Amazing Water Facts
|
Fact
|
Feature
|
Size
|
|
Largest Ocean
|
Pacific Ocean
|
area = 166 million sq km
(64 million sq miles)
|
|
Largest Sea
|
South China Sea
|
area = 3 million sq km
(1.1 million sq miles)
|
|
Biggest Bay
|
Bay of Bengal
|
area = 2.2 million sq km
(868,000 sq miles)
|
|
Deepest point in ocean
|
Mariana Trench (Pacific Ocean)
|
11 km (36,000 feet down)
|
|
Saltiest Sea
|
Dead Sea (Israel/Jordan)
|
9 times saltier than oceanwater
|
|
Hottest Seawater
|
Persian Gulf
|
35o C (95o F)
|
|
Longest River
|
Nile River (Africa)
|
6,670 km (4,145 miles)
|
|
River that carries most water
|
Amazon River (South America)
|
pours 4 million cubic feet every second into Atlantic
|
|
Muddiest River
|
Yellow River (China)
|
deposits rich silt over 141,645 sq km in its flood plain and delta.
(2 billion tons of soil washed down each year)
|
|
Highest Waterfall
|
Angel Falls (Venezuela)
|
Total drop = 980 m (3212 feet)
|
|
Deepest and oldest lake
|
Lake Baikal (Siberia)
|
Deepest part = 1,940 m (6,365 ft)
age = 25 million years old
|
|
Largest freshwater lake
|
Lake Superior (N. America)
|
area = 82,103 sq km (32,000 sq miles)
|
|
Smallest Great Lake
|
Lake Ontario (N. America)
|
area = 19,546 sq km (7,550 sq miles)
|
|
Shallowest Great Lake
|
Lake Erie (N. America)
|
64 m (210 feet deep)
|
|
Largest salty sea
|
Caspian Sea
|
area = 371,841 sq km (143,630 sq miles)
length = 1207 km (750 miles)
|
|
Longest freshwater lake
|
Lake Tanganyika (Africa)
|
length = 676 km (420 miles)
|
|
Highest navigable lake
|
Lake Titicaca (S. America)
|
height = 3,811 m (12,307 feet)
|
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
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Summer 2010 issue of The Earth Scientist, available in our
online store, includes articles on rivers and snow, classroom planetariums, satellites and oceanography, hands-on astronomy, and global warming.
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